A Dominant Character audiobook – Audience Reviews
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Review #1
A Dominant Character audiobook free
This is the best of the three biographies of Haldane that I have read (the other wo are Ronald Clark, “JBS,” and K.R. Dronamraju, “Popularizing Science,” which I have reviewed here on Amazon. I learned about Haldane at Penn when I took a course in genetics from Conway Zirkle, the man who “blew the whistle” on Lysenko (“Death of a Science in Russia,” 1949). Zirkle, and many who came later, could not understand how Haldane, who had contributed so much to the science of genetics, could let his commitment to Soviet Communism lead him to betray his discipline. In her memoir “Truth Will Out,” Haldane’s first wife, Charlotte, attributed it to his contrarian temperament. He was undeniably brilliant, and never doubted his brilliance; one of his teachers in childhood wrote of him that he was “much too aware of his own cleverness.” He could be very charming but was all too often overbearing and rude. His politics led him to Spain as essentially a war tourist, displaying equal measures of bravery and foolishness. Fred Copeman, who commanded the British Battalion, considered him “more a bloody nuisance than he was worth.” He went up to the front lines “brandishing a small revolver that probably couldn’t hit a cow at ten paces.” This was a man who, when he moved to India, explained that he was doing so to escape having to wear socks. He had not been long in India when he was invited to a reception for the Queen and Prince Philip. He had no taste for royalty or such occasions and got out of it by pleading that he had not bought a suit since 1939 and had no suitable raiment for the occasion. Indeed, he affected Indian garb and was often mistaken for a Hindu holy man.
Of the three founders of mathematical population genetics, Haldane was the most creative, most eclectic, and most undisciplined. British intelligence observed him carefully and concluded that he was not a Soviet spy. The spymasters certainly knew how headstrong and erratic he was, and decided not to go there.
Review #2
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A well-written biography of an eccentric British polymath of the first half of the last century.
J.B.S. Haldane was not a name I was familiar with when I picked up this book. I decided to read about him to discover why an otherwise intelligent Western scientist would not only become a communist, but one who actually supported Stalin into the 1950s. Compounding this error was his continued defense of the notorious USSR genetic fraudster, Lysenko.
Mr. Subramanian does his best to try to explain Haldane’s supportive actions in relation to the Soviet Union and Lysenko. To me, this support remains unexplainable. In addition, this negative episode in a highly interesting but contentious life undercuts the author’s closing plea for modern scientists to become more politically engaged.
While the political aspect was the main reason for my reading the book, I also enjoyed learning along the way quite a bit about biology, genetics. and how best to rescue someone from a downed submarine.
Review #3
Audiobook A Dominant Character by Samanth Subramanian
As someone who has some appreciation of the contributions made by J.B.S. Haldane to evolutionary biology, population genetics, animal physiology and enzyme kinetics, and of his connections with other prominent scientists of his time such as C.D. Darlington and those who followed in his footsteps, especially the mathematical evolutionary biologist John Maynard-Smith who was one of Haldanes research students, I took great pleasure in Samanth Subramanians richly researched and lively account of the mans life. For those of us who are ever on the look-out for the stories behind the stories of the lives and discoveries of scientists of Haldanes caliber, there is a great deal to be found in this book. Of particular interest to me was the time that Haldane spent at Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, something of which I should have been aware but was not, and the extent to which British Intelligence, specifically MI5, followed and detailed his activities and movements because of suspicions surrounding his communist affiliations – their concern that he might be a Russian spy. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in J.B.S. Haldanes science and politics as well as his circle of friends and associates, and his involvement in the First World War, Spanish Civil War and British WWII effort. He was not only a scientific polymath but also a political activist, and prolific science communicator. However, that is not to say, and Subramanian captures this deftly, Haldane was perfect. He could have a stubborn rancor that was more often than not infuriatingly insensitive to the feelings and needs of others, especially women (yes, he was profoundly misogynistic). Now that Subramanian has so effectively profiled and contextualized Haldanes life at the intersection of science and politics, perhaps with greater emphasis on the latter than the former, and provided us with peek into the last few years of his life in India, what I would like to see are two sequels. The first would be one in which the author teams up with a card-carrying scientist (or two) to flesh out the details of Haldanes science with an eye to its impact on our understanding of the evolutionary significance of altruistic behavior, ideas on the origin of life, enzyme kinetics, body size constraints in animal design, his contributions to the mathematical theory of population genetics and statistical human genetics, and early ideas on the connection between sickle cell disease and decreased susceptibility to malaria. The second would be one in which the author takes full advantage of his Indian heritage and cultural insights to dig deeper into Haldanes motives scientific, political, spiritual for ending his days in Bhubaneswar, India. Bottom line Subramanians book is so good that it has whetted my appetite for still more of the same
Review #4
Audio A Dominant Character narrated by Jonathan Cowley
His early life working with his physician Father on blood gasses was the seminal event for the methodology he used in his study of biology and evolution. He learned determination and critical thinking. Haldane brought Darwin’s work into the mainstream of science. He countered his critics with ease and wit, and with tremendous strength and clarity of thought. This book is well worth reading.
Review #5
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This biography is worthwhile if you’re not familiar with Haldane but is not as good, either in terms of Haldane’s scientific or political career as Ronald W. Clark’s earlier book. Neither one really puts enough emphasis on Haldane’sbcontributions to the “Modern Synthesis” reconciling Darwin and Mendel and thereby developing modern evolutionary biology.
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